NEW HAVEN, Conn. – On Saturday afternoon, for the second straight day, the Yale women's ice hockey team found itself facing a multiple-goal deficit in the third period. After rallying but coming up just short Friday night in a 3-2 loss to No. 9 Harvard, on Saturday against Dartmouth -- after falling behind 3-1 -- the Bulldogs found a way to get the goals they needed to earn an important point in the ECAC Hockey standings. Sophomore forward Eden Murray's tally with 2:50 left in regulation enabled Yale to come away with a 3-3 tie in overtime.

"I'm proud of our kids, and the resilience we showed," said Joakim Flygh, Yale's Susan Cavanagh Head Coach of Women's Ice Hockey. "On Friday we felt like we ran out of time. Today we found a way to battle back to tie it up."

Yale (1-4-1, 1-2-1 ECAC Hockey) fell behind early on a goal by Dartmouth forward Lindsay Allen at 3:39 of the first, but the Bulldogs answered late in the period. Sophomore defenseman Mallory Souliotis took a pass from senior forward Jamie Haddad in the right circle and rifled in her first goal of the season. Freshman Jordan Chancellor also assisted on the play, earning her fourth assist of the season to tie for the team lead in that category.

The Bulldogs found themselves trailing again late in the second period. This time, just seven seconds into a power play, Dartmouth defenseman Tess Bracken blasted a slap shot from just inside the blue line and forward Kate Landers tipped it top shelf to put the Big Green up 2-1 at 13:05.

The teams were skating 4-on-4 when Dartmouth (2-1-2, 2-1-2 ECAC Hockey) had a golden chance to increase its lead, but Souliotis dove to the ice to deflect away a pass on a 2-on-1. Yale junior goalie Hanna Mandl was able to make the save on the follow-up shot.

With less than two minutes left in the period the Bulldogs appeared poised to tie the game as a loose puck trickled behind Dartmouth goalie Robyn Chemago with junior forward Phoebe Staenz bearing down on it. But as a Dartmouth player slid to the ice and took out Staenz, Chemago managed to get her glove on the puck behind her just before it crossed the goal line. Dartmouth kept its 2-1 lead heading into the third.

The Big Green went up 3-1 at 9:09 of the third on a goal by forward Brooke Ahbe, who retrieved a loose puck to Mandl's left and scored from a tough angle. But the Yale comeback started shortly after that.

A power play for Yale with 9:31 left in the game saw the Bulldogs put a flurry of shots on goal, but Chemago stopped them all -- culminating the sequence with a glove save on junior defenseman Taylor Marchin.

Yale crept closer with 7:08 left. Near the Dartmouth blue line, Souliotis backhanded the puck along the boards all the way down to sophomore forward Courtney Pensavalle. She skated it into the slot before dishing it to sophomore forward Brittany Wheeler, who knocked it in for her first goal of the season.

Due to Yale's depth at forward, Wheeler -- on the team's fourth line -- has had to fight just to earn ice time, so getting a scoring contribution from her provided a much-needed boost.

"That was a huge goal," said Flygh. "Those (fourth-line) kids provide energy, and getting a goal like that got everyone on our bench fired up. It was a huge part of our comeback."

Four minutes later, after some big saves from Mandl kept Yale within striking distance, the Bulldogs tied the game on a highlight-reel goal from Murray. Her backhander from the right circle found a sliver of space above Chemago's left shoulder and under the crossbar to make the score 3-3 with 2:50 to play. Junior forward Krista Yip-Chuck assisted on the play.

"Krista Yip-Chuck showed a lot of patience, and drew in the defense," said Flygh. "Eden was a little frustrated earlier this year after a slow start, but she's been doing a really good job of late. That's what we need her to do."

Mandl made a crucial save with 45 seconds left in regulation, kicking away a shot by forward Laura Stacey after Stacey had gotten behind the Yale defense in transition. The teams went to overtime tied at three.

Chemago stopped Yale's only shot of overtime, and Mandl made a pair of saves on Stacey in the final 90 seconds. After each team got called for a penalty in the final 13.5 seconds there was a faceoff in the Dartmouth zone. The Big Green managed to tie the puck up just long enough to keep Yale from getting off a shot, leaving the final score at 3-3. Mandl finished with 27 saves, while Chemago had 25.

The first four conference games for Yale -- a one-goal win, two one-goal losses, and a tie -- seem to indicate just how tightly packed the ECAC Hockey standings will be throughout the year. Every team in the league has already suffered at least one conference loss, and 10 of the 12 teams have at least one conference loss and/or one conference tie. The Bulldogs' quest for the first ECAC Hockey championship and NCAA Tournament bid in program history thus figures to be filled with plenty of close games like Saturday's.

"It's going to be competitive; there are no easy games in ECAC Hockey," said Flygh. "We need to improve defensively, and work on our special teams. We like what we're doing offensively."

Yale next plays at No. 3 Minnesota on Nov. 20.

Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity